Academic literature on the topic 'Book industries and trade – History'

In the political and economic history of Germany, Leipzig alreadyheld a special place long before unification. Since the middle ages, ithas hosted one of the most important trade fairs in Europe. Whenindustrialization turned Germany in the late nineteenth century intoa leading European power, outpacing France and closely rivalingBritain, Leipzig added to its established and internationally acclaimedfur and book trade a mighty industrial sector in lignite-based chemicalsand vehicle production. At the turn of the century, Leipzig wasone of the largest and most affluent cities of Germany and indeedEurope. A rich stock of Gründerzeit houses remains to testify to thisillustrious past.

AbstractThe Habsburg Empire was a sovereign dynasty ruled by the Habsburgs between the 15th and 20th centuries. Although its borders were not defined before the 19th century, what is now Austria, Hungary, some areas of the Czech Republic, the Netherlands and Italy were at some point part of the Empire. Starting in the 17th century, the Empire had Vienna as the capital, which was a hub for culture and craft where silk was a valued commodity. Despite the political and cultural importance of the Empire, little is known of its trade practices and sources of raw material. Using a combination of X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) and High Performance Liquid Chromatography-Photodiode Array Detector (HPLC-PDA) for the study of a Viennese swatch book, we conducted the first systematic approach to understanding the industry. Benedict Codecasa, a prominent merchant active in Vienna between the late 18th and early 19th century sold silk and other textile goods. Authorized by the Royal Court, Codecasa was assumed to sell luxurious and high-quality textiles. However, our results suggested colored goods were dyed with more focus on aesthetics (finding a similar color) rather than quality through unique recipes. This greatly contrasts with other contemporary textile industries praised for their quality and which, in turn, might be related to comparatively lesser quality textiles sold in Vienna.

The author deals with the history of the Ob Ugrian husbandry and economy and aims at showing what phenomena of the Ob Ugrians’ economic life have attracted scholarly attention and how research approaches have changed. The works of ethnologists and historians are used as sources. Historiography is considered not so much as an account of achievements and discoveries of different authors, but more as ideas, research approaches that appear in a certain historical period. In the 18th–19th centuries, authors were concerned with the uniqueness of the economic activities of the Ostyaks and Voguls. They regarded fishing, hunting and reindeer herding as modes of livelihood strikingly different from those habitual to educated observers. In the middle 19th century, ethnographers paid attention to economic relations between the indigenous and Russian population of the Northern Ob Region and complied descriptions of trade at fairs and credit-trade relations. The turn of the 19th–20th centuries was the period of boom of ethnographic local lore, when empirical materials on the economy were supplemented with data on the Ugrian local groups, which were characterized by the accuracy of information and its attachment to a specific territory. In the 1920s, ethnographers were no longer attracted by the exoticism and uniqueness of northern peoples’ ways of economic activity. They sought to obtain the most accurate data on the husbandry and economy in order, relying on them, to overcome the “backwardness” of the aboriginal economy and raise it to the socialist level. In the 1960–1990s, Ugric scholars studied the traditional branches of the husbandry from the perspective of historical retrospect. During these years a lot of new data were introduced into the scientific turnover, the problems of formation and evolution of separate branches and economic complexes in different groups of the Khanty and Mansi were studied. The contemporary stage of the Ob Ugrian husbandry and economy research is characterized by special attention to the development of traditional industries under conditions of intensive industrial development and market relations.

One of the most influential ideas in Southeast Asian history in recent decades has been Anthony Reid'sAge of Commercethesis, which sees a commercial boom and the emergence of port cities as hubs of commerce over the fifteenth to seventeenth centuries, which in turn spurred political, social and economic changes throughout the region. But how new were the changes described in Reid'sAge of Commerce? This paper argues that the four centuries from circa 900 to 1300 CE can be seen as an ‘Early Age of Commerce’ in Southeast Asia. During this period, a number of commercial and financial changes in China, South Asia, the Middle East and within the Southeast Asian region, greatly promoted maritime trade, which induced the emergence of new ports and urban centres, the movement of administrative capitals toward the coast, population expansion, increased maritime links between societies, the expansion of Theravada Buddhism and Islam, increased monetisation, new industries, new forms of consumption and new mercantile organisations. It is thus proposed that the period from 900 to 1300 be considered the Early Age of Commerce in Southeast Asian history.

The book world of sixteenth-century England was heavily focused on London. London's publishers wholly dominated the production of books, and with Oxford and Cambridge the booksellers of the capital also played the largest role in the supplying and distribution of books imported from Continental Europe. Nevertheless, by the end of the sixteenth century a considerable network of booksellers had been established in England's provincial towns. This dissertation uses scattered surviving evidence from book lists and inventories to investigate the development and character of provincial bookselling in the period between 1520 and 1640. It draws on information from most of England's larger cities, including York, Norwich and Exeter, as well as much smaller places, such as Kirkby Lonsdale and Ormskirk. It demonstrates that, despite the competition from the metropolis, local booksellers played an important role in supplying customers with a considerable range and variety of books, and that these bookshops became larger and more ambitious in their services to customers through this period. The result should be a significant contribution to understanding the book world of early modern England. The dissertation is accompanied by an appendix, listing and identifying the books documented in nine separate lists, each of which, where possible, has been matched to surviving editions.

This dissertation explores the impact of gender ideologies held by medieval readerships on the production of books and circulation of texts in late medieval England. The first chapter explores how the professional book trade of late medieval London circulated booklets of Chauceriana which constructed masculinity and femininity in strict adherence to the courtly love literary tradition. In the second chapter, I demonstrate that such a standardized representation of courtly gender could be adapted by a readership removed from the professional book trade, in this case the rural gentry producers of the Findern manuscript, who present a revised vision of femininity and courtliness in their anthology. This revised femininity includes several texts which privilege the female speaking voice. The third chapter goes on to investigate the use of the female voice in one particular genre, the love lyric, and asks if the female lyric speaker can be associated with manuscripts in which women participated as producers or readers. Finally, the fourth chapter turns to masculinity, examining how the commonplace book of an early 16th century grocer, Richard Hill, contains selections from didactic and recreational literature which reinforce the ideals of masculine conduct in the merchant community of late medieval London. The dissertation concludes that manuscript contexts must be taken into account when reading gender in medieval English literature.

This thesis is concerned with the editorial, printing and marketing history of four Byzantine historical narratives, published between 1556 and 1645, and soon collectively identified under the name Corpus Historiæ Byzantinæ (hereinafter, 'Byzantine Corpus'). The four Byzantine historians - Ioannes Zonaras, Niketas Choniates, Nikephoros Gregoras and Laonikos Chalkokondyles - enjoyed considerable popularity in early modern Europe, with a peak of interest in the second half of the sixteenth century. This thesis aims at highlighting how these four texts, despite being so popular in a number of early modern European countries (particularly in the German-speaking area, in Italy and in France), did not do so for the same reasons: in fact, depending on the country in which these books were printed, they were marketed, perceived and read in very different ways. This element is particularly relevant in light of the fact that the Byzantine Corpus represents the earliest predecessor of the Corpus Fontium Historiæ Byzantinæ, the modern resource for the study of Byzantine historical sources. Chapter 1 analyses the early formation of the Byzantine Corpus and, in particular, the figure of Hieronymus Wolf, first editor of the Byzantine Corpus, often considered the 'father' of Byzantine studies; his relation with his patrons, the Fuggers of Augsburg; finally, his relation with his publisher, the Basel printer Johannes Oporinus. It then provides contextualised bibliographical and paratextual descriptions of the editiones principes of the Byzantine Corpus, all printed in Basel. Chapters 2-5 reflect the same comparative approach, used to investigate how the later editions of the Byzantine Corpus were prepared and marketed in different European countries: each chapter provides a bibliographical and paratextual analysis of the subsequent German, Italian, French and Genevan editions respectively. The Conclusions draw together all the information collected in the previous chapters and investigate three pivotal aspects of the Byzantine Corpus: i) the formation of the Byzantine Corpus and the individual popularity of each of the four Byzantine historians based on the frequency and popularity of both individual and collective editions; ii) the distinctive reasons of their popularity, analysed through a comparison of the different approaches with which editors and publishers have presented these texts to their respective audiences in Germany, Italy and France; iii) the reasons for the rise and decline in popularity of the Byzantine Corpus in the early seventeenth century.

This thesis is a cultural history of the publishing businesses that financed Shakespeare's First Folio. The thesis argues that by 1623 each of the four businesses that formed the Folio syndicate had developed an influential reputation in the book trade, and that these reputations were crucial to the cultural positioning of the Folio on publication. Taking its lead from a dynamic new field of study that has been called 'cultural bibliography', the thesis investigates the histories and publishing strategies of the business owned by the stationers William and Isaac Jaggard, who are usually thought of as the leading members of the Folio project, as well as those owned by William Aspley, John Smethwick, and Edward Blount. Through detailed analysis of the publishing strategies of each stationer, the thesis puts forward new theories about how these men influenced the reception of the Folio by transferring onto it their brands, and the expectations of their readerships. The business of each Folio stationer was like a stage with an audience assembled around it, waiting for the next production to emerge. This thesis identifies the publishing activities that attracted the audiences of the Jaggards, Blount, Smethwick, and Aspley, and ultimately suggests the Folio was granted significant legitimacy through the collaboration of these men. After an introductory chapter that locates the thesis in its scholarly field, the first chapter tells the history of syndicated book publishing in England, and reviews what we know of the pre-production process of the First Folio, taking a particular interest in how the publishing syndicate formed. The following chapters then form a series of case studies of the four publishing businesses, reviewing the apprenticeships and careers of each stationer before suggesting how those careers created a context of meaning for the Folio. These case studies focus on the authoritative reference publishing of the Jaggards, the religious publishing of William Aspley, the geographical location of John Smethwick's publishing business beside the Inns of Court, and the cultural achievements of Edward Blount. In conclusion the thesis explores the idea that it was the unique partnership of these businesses that consecrated the Folio as an emblem of literary taste.

This thesis examines the transmission and reception of images in Le Roman de la rose manuscripts and printed editions of the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. Through in-depth case studies, I analyse how illustrators, editors, and readers used printed imagery in Rose books ca. 1481-1538, during the period of Rose printed edition production, exploring wider cross-disciplinary issues concerning the history of the book, the relationship between word and image, and readership practices following the advent of French printing. I argue that the mobility of printed imagery, which was facilitated in part by the wider dissemination of woodcuts in workshops, influenced the form and function of images in books. In addition, I problematize the 'transition' from manuscript to print in the later Middle Ages, through an investigation of artisans' personal and professional collaborations and evidence of image sharing between hand-illustrated and printed books. Bookmakers and readers used printed imagery in fascinating ways in books, appropriating and modifying woodcuts in order to engage with certain subjects and motifs. Readers' visual responses to books are under-examined, and I assess how readers' drawings add insight into their understanding of printed editions and those editions' visual iconography. French books contain a large body of evidence pertaining to image production and reception, but printed imagery is often overlooked, despite its potential to shed light on the practices of illustrators, editors, and readers. I provide new strategies for examining patterns of printed image production, circulation, and reception in the visual presentations of manuscripts and printed editions of this period. I also deepen understanding of the Rose and its consumption in the later Middle Ages and Renaissance, probing the role of images in books.

Few historians would question the importance of national literature to the understanding of national history. Less frequently, especially in Scottish history, is equal attention given to the print medium. Publishing and the book trade represent a complex cocktail of conscience and commerce, of ideology and industry, and one of the tensions within the study of publishing, especially in the turmoil of the early modern period, is the assessment of motive underpinning the act of publication. Two objectives are sought in this research of the book trade of Scotland c1500 to c1720. The degree, scale, structure and financial basis of the book trade are considered. In particular, data obtained from a large number of existing and new references to individual booksellers and printers has been accumulated in order to establish the extent, development, and general pattern of commerce. Secondly, the interaction of public policy and the book trade is explored with separate chapters on the policy of the burghs, the church and the government. As part of government control close scrutiny is given to the law of publishing with chapters devoted to copyright and censorship, two themes for which adequate Scottish study is long overdue. In addition, a bridging chapter is included dealing with trade links between Scotland and the Low Countries, and this reflects vividly the conflicting demands of permission and prohibition for book merchants and book regulators. The research comes to two apparently contrasting conclusions. The book trade of early modern Scotland was in many respects similar to those of other European nations at this time, especially England and the Low Countries. The desire for profit and intellectual improvement, but also adequate controls, were common to all literate societies. Equally, although the beaches of Scottish print culture were battered by the influences of Dutch and English commercial, legal and administrative conventions, Scotland developed its own unique relationship to the printed word - a Scottish tradition.

The books and papers offered in this submission are concerned with the history of books and the book trade. Three papers (nos. 1, 2, 3) offer a theoretical and conceptual framework for historical studies of the book. In essence, it is argued that since the book is a societal object it can only be understood in a societal context. Consequently historical studies of books are concerned with far more than physical bibliography, important as that is. The writing, publishing and reading of books are activities which develop out of, and influence the further development of, political and economic systems. The political context of publishing and its legal status is of central concern to the book historian (nos. 12, 14, 15); so too are the mechanisms of sale and distribution (nos. 9, 10, 11, 16) and the relationships between the author who is the primary producer, and the publisher who provides his commercial link with the reader (no. 13). More specifically, the central group of works is concerned with the provincial book trade in 18th-century England. The general study (no. 8) is a wide-ranging survey, largely based on primary sources, of the development and operation of the complex systems which allowed the printed word to permeate English society at every level and in every part of the country between 1700 and 1800. Shorter studies consider some more detailed aspects of the same subject (nos. 4, 6, 7) and survey previous work in the field (no. 5 ).

A study of the history of the book trade (printing, bookselling, stationery and publishing) in Leicester, from the medieval beginnings of the trade (parchment making etc. ) up to cl 850. The development of the book trade is examined in its local, regional and national contexts, including cultural, social and economic aspects, with the aim of contributing to the growing corpus of historical study of the provincial book trade in England, which has developed considerably over the last thirty years. Extensive use has been made of primary source material, not least the Borough Records of Leicester including the registers of freemen and apprentices, newspaper advertisements, extant locally-printed books and other material. More than three hundred book-trade individuals have been identified. The activities of the leading practitioners are explored, including the stock and services they provided, the economics of their trading activity, their standing in the town (many held civic office), and their interaction within the business community. The impact of the book trade and the printed word in Leicester are discussed, as are other significant aspects of the trade such as the importance of family businesses, the role of women, and the handing on of trade skills from master to apprentice. In the last decade of the eighteenth century and the first part of the nineteenth, the striking contrast between the conservatism of the old Corporation and the strident radicalism, and religious dissent, of many Leicester people provides a vibrant setting for the activities of booksellers, printers and newspaper publishers. Many of the town's leading book-trade practitioners were politically radical - an interesting and historically important dimension to the later development of the book trade in Leicester, to a degree seldom found elsewhere.

AbstractThe Celtic tiger boom was a major departure from previous experience since the Irish economy had a long previous history of relative weakness compared to many other European countries. The Irish economy had a chronic problem with insufficient generation of employment, resulting in high rates of emigration, as well as relatively low incomes. Previous attempts to promote industrial development included a period of protection and a focus on indigenous industry, followed by a more externally oriented free trade approach with a welcome for foreign investment after the late 1950s. By the mid-1980s, just before the boom, the economy was facing very serious problems, with record unemployment, a high rate of emigration and a major government financial crisis, as well as an industrial sector that was in crisis and an industrial policy that appeared to be failing.

AbstractThis chapter presents a brief history of the dominant, Anglo-American literary advice tradition from the nineteenth century to the present as well as a state of the art of the existing scholarship on literary advice. We focus on several key moments for literary advice in the USA and in the UK: Edgar Allan Poe’s “Philosophy of Composition” (1846), the debate between Sir Walter Besant and Henry James surrounding “The Art of Fiction” (1884), the era of the handbook (1880s–1930s), the “program era” (McGurl 2009) and postwar literary advice, the rise of the “advice author” in the 1980s and 1990s, and finally advice in the “digital literary sphere” (Murray 2018). The overview captures both the remarkable consistency and the transformations of advice, against the background of changes in the literary system, the rise of creative writing, changes in the publishing world, and the rise of the Internet and self-publishing. It highlights the role of some specific actors in the literary advice industry, such as moguls, women, and gurus, and draws attention to a number of subgenres (genre handbooks, self-help literary advice, and the writing memoir), as well as to counter-reactions and resistance to advice in literary works and in avant-garde manuals. Advice is regarded both in the context of the professionalization of authorship in a literary culture shaped by cultural and creative industries, and of the exponential increase of amateur creativity.

This short text is devoted to presentation of preliminary results of the fundamental experiment carried out by A.A. Bobrinsky in the 1970s and the 1980s on the basis of traditional pottery trade. Altogether about 40 master potters of different ages and of different skill levels took part in this experiment in different years. The experiment consisted in artificial modeling of the situation that occurred permanently in the history of pottery. We mean cases when a potter produces vessel forms that are new for him and due to specific historical reasons became “fashionable” (or sought after) in a particular society. In the experiment course it was found out that a potter who performs such task experience a disruption of traditional system of physical efforts application a potter had developed in the course of long production of traditional (customary) vessel forms range. The disruption’s result is emergence of so called “hybrid” vessel forms that were widely spread in various historical epochs, from the Neolithic Age to the late Middle Age. These “hybrid” forms co-existed with traditional vessel forms. The discovered regularities widen considerably contemporary opportunities to study these phenomena on archeological pottery.

Abstract Nigeria has oil and gas as her major source of revenue, accounting for more than 80% of her foreign exchange, with the AfCFTA, that has been signed and ratified not just by Nigeria but by other African countries taking away tariffs on goods and services produced across the continent irrespective of the market where it's been sold. The AfCFTA being the second largest free trade agreement in the history of World Trade Organization is aimed at uniting African markets. This paper aims to review the framework of the continental free trade agreement, it pros and cons, its grey area, and its impact on the Oil and Gas Industry in Nigeria. The impact of the agreement on the local industries servicing the oil and gas industry is considered as well. The paper reviews the possible advantage of the AfCFTA on the Nigerian oil and gas market. The possible threats to nationalization in the oil and gas industry due to the availability of cheap labour and technical expertise across the continent in the country is analyzed. Solutions to protect the oil and gas industry in Nigeria is recommended as well.

В статье прослеживается история Фанагории с середины 3 в., когда жизнь Боспорского царства, в состав которого входила Фанагория, была нарушена вторжением племенных союзов готов, до конца 7 столетия, когда Боспор захватили хазары, и в истории Фанагории начался новый период. Сопоставляются сведения, содержащиеся в письмен - ных источниках и эпиграфических памятниках, данные археологии и нумизматики. История Фанагории рассматривается на фоне политической и экономической ситуации в Северном Причерноморье. Уточнение хронологии ключевых групп материала и ряд новых находок позволили пересмотреть даты некоторых важных событий в истории города. В середине 3 в. относительно спокойная жизнь Боспорского царства была нарушена появлением племенных союзов готов и других восточногерманских народов, которые в 255 г. по суше достигли Боспора и, переправившись через Меотиду, разорили хору каких-то городов и разгромили Танаис. С берегов Меотиды готы в течение двадцати лет совершали практически ежегодные морские и сухопутные набеги на римские владения в Причерноморье и Восточном Средиземноморье. Поскольку европейская сторона, пострадавшая при готских вторжениях, не могла предоставить необходимый провиант и корабли, подготовка этих походов была возможна только при использовании ресурсов городов и хоры азиатской половины Боспорского государства. Именно в города Азиатского Боспора, в том числе Фанагорию, «скифы» свозили награбленное добро, ставшее источником подъема экономики Боспорского царства. После разгрома германцев в 276 г. на Боспоре наступает относительно спокойный период. Правители Боспора контролируют прежнюю территорию, в том числе Азиатский Боспор. В последней четверти 3–4 вв. оживляется сильно нарушенная германцами экономика Боспора, в которой, как свидетельствует нумизматический материал, преобладает его азиатская сторона, где развернулась активная строительная деятельность. В частности, в Фанагории ко времени не ранее конца 3–4 вв. н. э. относится строительство портовых сооружений; несколько меняется облик города: на месте богатых общественных сооружений появляются крупные винодельческие комплексы и жилые дома. Следы разрушений и пожаров, выявленные на различных поселениях Таманского полуострова, и клады, сокрытые не ранее 341–342 гг., говорят о внезапной атаке, возможно, каких-то северокавказских племен. Однако Фанагория, по-видимому, избежала разгрома: город сохраняет территорию в прежних границах и продолжает оставаться крупным ремесленным и торговым центром. В какой-то момент жизнь города была прервана неким событием, оставившим после себя следы разрушений и пожара, выявленные в нескольких районах города. Боль шинство исследователей связывает это разрушение с нашествием гуннов и относит ко времени правления императора Валента (364–378). Однако на основе анализа данных письменных источников и состава комплекса керамики из слоя пожара и комплексов, связанных с расчисткой города перед новым строительством, оно может быть датировано временем около середины 5 в., хотя виновника этих разрушений определить не удается. Приблизительно в это же время прекращают существование Кепы, Батарейка I и II, Красноармейское, Каменная батарейка. Остались лишь крупные города – Фанагория и Гермонасса и, может быть, какие-то производственные центры. В результате описанных событий территория города несколько сократилась: строительные остатки, которые можно было бы датировать временем после первой половины 5 в., не прослежены на юго-восточной и юго-западной окраине города. Однако в централь - ной части нижнего и верхнем плато города жизнь возобновляется довольно быстро. В конце 5 или начале 6 в. Боспорское царство входит в сферу влияния Византийской империи. Однако период относительной стабильности под крылом Византии в Фанагории по сведениям письменных источников и данным археологии внезапно обрывается в середине 6 в. С одной стороны, упоминание о разрушении Фанагории и Кеп Прокопием Кесарийским в книге VIII «Истории войн», законченной в 554 году, а с другой, – комплекс керамики, открытый в слое пожара на раскопах «Береговой стратиграфический» и «Нижний город», и особенно недавние находки на последнем двух солидов Юстиниана I 545–565 гг., позволяют датировать слой разрушения временем не ранее 545 года, но не позднее 554 года. Складывается впечатление, что после этих событий жизнь в Фанагории на какое-то время замирает: отмечается отсутствие материалов второй половины 6–7 вв. на некрополе Фанагории, а в коллекции краснолаковой керамики из раскопок города – поздних форм. Но вый период истории города начинается, по-видимому, около 665 г., когда Боспор захватили хазары. Именно с ними связано появление на месте сгоревших домов построек, возведенных в технике «елочка», характерной для хазарских памятников второй половины 7–10 вв. The article traces the history of Phanagoria from the middle of the 3rd century, when the life of the Bosporan kingdom, Phanagoria being its part, was disturbed by the invasion of Gothic tribes, till the late 7th century, when Bosporos was occupied by the Khazars, the event which opened a new period of its history. Here we compare information from written sources, epigraphic documents, numismatics and archaeology. The history of Phanagoria is considered against the background of the political and economic situation in the North Black Sea area. The verification of chronology of the principal groups of materials and a number of new discover ies allows to reconsider the dates of certain important events in the history of the city. In the middle of the 3rd century the relatively peaceful life of the Bosporan kingdom was disturbed by the appearance of Gothic tribes and other East Germanic peoples, who in 255 reached Bosporos and after crossing Lake Maeotis ravaged the suburban areas of several cities and destroyed Tanais. From the Maeotic banks in the course of twenty years the Goths raided Ro man territories in the North Black Sea area and the East Mediterranean by land and sea. As the European side much affected by Gothic invasions could not provide supplies and ships, the provision of these raids was possible only by the use of resources obtained from the Eastern half of the Bosporan state. The cities of the Asian Bosporos including Phanagoria became the stores where ‘the Scythians’ concentrated their loot, which ensured the economic development of the Bosporan kingdom. After the defeat of the Germans in 276 followed a relatively peaceful period. The Bosporan rulers controlled their initial territory, including the Asian Bosporos. In the last third of the 4th century the Bosporan economy affected by German invasions revives significantly. Numismatic data testifies to the development of its Asiatic part, where building activities were noticeable. In Phanagoria in particular, by the late 3rd – 4th centuries its sea-port was reconstructed and in the whole appearance of the city there were important changes: rich public buildings were replaced by large wineries and dwelling houses. Ruins and traces of fire revealed at different settlements of the Taman Peninsula, hoards hidden not earlier than 341–342 tell of some unexpected attack, possibly by certain North Caucasian tribes. Phanagoria evidently avoided destruction. The city retained its original borders and continued as a prominent center of trade and industry. At some point, the life of the city was interrupted by some event, leaving traces of destruction and fire visible in its several districts. Most scholars connect this event with the coming of the Huns in the reign of Emperor Valens (364–378). However, written sources and sets of pottery from burnt layers connected with the removal of ruins before the reconstruction of the city point Л. А. Голофаст 44 to the time around mid–fifth century, even though they do not define those guilty of the event. Approximately at the same time disappear such settlements as Kepoi, Batareika I and II, Krasnoarmeiskoe, Kamennaya Batareika. Only large cities survived – Phanagoria and Hermonassa and probably some industrial centres. The events described above reduced the territory of the city: there are no traces of building activity in the South-East and South-West districts. But in the central part of the lower plateau and upon the upper one the city-life revived quickly. In the late 5th or the early 6th century the Bosporan kingdom became involved into the Byzantine sphere of influence. However, the period of relative stability under the Byzantine protection was suddenly interrupted in the middle of the 6th century. Procopius mentions the destruction of Phanagoria and Kepoi in the eighth book of his “History of Wars” accomplished in 554. On the other hand the sets of pottery from the strata of ruins and fire from the “Shore stratigraphic” trench and the “Lower city” trench as well as recent finds in the last one of two solidi of Justinian I (545–565) allow to date the strata to the time not earlier than 545 but not later than 554. It looks like after these events any active life in Phanagoria stopped for a while: there are no materials of the second half of the 6th – 7th centuries from the city necropolis, no finds of later forms of red-ware pottery from the city. A new period in the history of the city began around 665, when Bosporos was occupied by the Khazars. That was the time when burnt structures were re placed by buildings constructed after the opus spicanti technique characteristic of the 7th – 10th century Khazar architecture.

This article presents the architecture, origin and the vicissitudes of the holiday resort which was dedicated to employees of the state media institutions of that time and which is representative of Polish holiday centres in Poland in the 1970s. It was developed near a town called Gołdap in northern Poland in the area of the Masurian Lake District which constituted a part of German East Prussia before 1945. The centre was planned in the land which operated as the Main Headquarters of the General Command of Luftwaffe during II World War. One of the key principles assumed by the designer of the holiday resort was not only the use of the natural advantages of the place but also the maximum adaptation of the preserved facilities, the foundations of the buildings and the infrastructure of the former military complex. The unusual architecture, attractive location and the scale of the constructed complex bespoke of the investors’ considerable wealth. The history of the centre entwined closely with important events in general history and the political and economic changes which occurred in Poland after 1989 determined the decision to introduce a new function of a sanatorium to the facility. The complex was then partially reconstructed and developed. This article was based on a number of researches. A detailed analysis was made of the related archival materials and scientific publications. A comparative analysis was conducted of the architecture of the centre and other facilities used for the same purpose which had been built in the 1960s and 1970s in Poland. The required field studies and photographic documentation of all the premises were performed simultaneously.

In the short story Novella Greca, in her book: Fior di Passione, 1888, the author M. Serao narrates the true story of Calliope Stavro, the heroine (Calliopi Stavrou in Greek), in Leucade - Santa Maura (Lefkada - Agia Mavra in Greek), an island of the Ionian Sea, in 19th century Greece. At that time, the country was just freed from the Turkish occupation, trying to recover from more than 400 years of slavery and subjugation to the Ottoman Empire. Calliope Stavro represents the woman of her time, imprisoned in the small society of her island, suffocated, asphyxiated, disillusioned and unfulfilled. Thus, she decides to commit suicide not having a way out in her island, which although it is a naturally beautiful place due to its greenery, it is a barren rock �thrown� into the Ionian Sea without any promising future for its inhabitants. Serao realistically exposes the true story of the heroine�s female identity, whose death signifies her suffocation within the patriarchal society of her time. The writer presents the outlets of human existence, the small society of the island, the negative influence of the heroine�s microcosm, which mostly depends on the raisin trade, its production and export, with which almost all the males of the island are preoccupied, since it provided a profitable income in that time. Faced with the crushing reality of her life, the non-existence of love, no romance, male dominance, and indifference, even misogynism, she chooses death, she surrenders to her doomed destiny and the futility of existence, because she is not allowed to live a free life according to her will. Her fatal fall from Lefkata�s cape, where in ancient times there was a temple of god Apollo, god of music, light, and patron of the arts and divination, signifies the death of the gods of Olympus. Their place has been taken by a harsh reality, the revelation of the demands of the human soul, its desires, and its dead ends. Greece will need and still needs a long way to go to find the place it deserves in history, free from patriarchal structures, prejudices, and the impasses that they entail. The story of Calliope Stavro proves in practice the predicament of the female under the patriarchal standards of her era and the unsatisfied desires of the human psyche, which are sacrificed for the sake of survival, most times with unpredictable, unpleasant and unhappy results.